Well, for those others who prefer a less cumbersome route, you’re method is finally available today as T-Mobile started rolling out the update using the preferred over-the-air process. Naturally, that notification will eventually arrive indicating that it’s ready for download. Besides the updated facelift, owners can also expect to find the addition of these other goodies with the update:

Improved battery life

Improved front-facing camera operation when using Qik record and share

Toshiba has not had a lot of success selling mobile devices outside of Japan, but the Thrive tablet may end up leading the way for more exports. The Toshiba Regza IS11T smartphone (which would no doubt get a name change if it makes it to the US or EU) could be one of the first Toshiba handsets to find some marketshare outside of Japan.

The phone looks fairly nice in a new video preview. The phone features a full QWERTY slide-out keyboard, a 4″ VGA display, an “upgraded” 1.4 GHz Snapdragon CPU (no word on number of cores, but we’d hope the word “upgraded” means dual core), an 8 MP camera, and best of all, it ships with Android 2.3.4. Given that most phones receiving updates still only get to Android 2.3.3, it’s nice to see a phone ship with 2.3.4. No word on if the phone has a front-facing camera to take advantage of the video chat in GTalk in 2.3.4, but at the end of the video Skype is launched for half a second. The UI overlay looks smooth for the most part as well.

What do you guys say? If this phone made it to your area, would you give it a shot?

The saga may almost be over for Motorola XOOM users waiting to upgrade their tablets to LTE. Originally, word had the upgrade process starting in the summer, and last month there were even e-mails sent out accidentally telling users about the upgrade process starting. And, a couple weeks ago, we saw what appeared to be a XOOM with built-in LTE pass through the FCC, but still no word about the upgrade process. Now, it looks like the process will begin in September.

Droid Life has come across a leaked Verizon memo which states that starting today XOOM users should receive an e-mail regarding the upgrades, which will begin in September, although no specific date is given. As always, the upgrade process will be free, and will require that users send in their XOOMs for the upgrade. Unfortunately, the memo also doesn’t mention if Verizon & Motorola have figured out a way to shorten the reported 6 day turnover required to install the LTE radios.

We’ll let you know if any more info comes through. Sound off in the comments if you got the e-mail about the upgrade!

One can easily imagine what a 10” tablet might look like, especially all the offerings we’ve seen so far look exactly the same, but rather than supersizing the appearance of their previous tablet offering, HTC decides to implement one that’s entirely different for the HTC Puccini. Fortunately, we’re presented with what are believed to be the first press shots of the upcoming HTC Puccini tablet.

Based on the images, we find that the 10-inch slate sporting a different look in the rear with its uniform colored design – though, the S shaped pattern does add a subtle refined mark to it. However, we find the tablet sporting not two, but three speakers that would more than likely offer stereo support any way you hold it. Moreover, it seems to be carrying along an 8-meagpixel camera with dual-LED flash.

With the frontal image, we find the tablet tucked inside a portfolio case of some sort where we also find a spot reserved for the HTC Scribe Pen, which is of course going to be one of its defining characteristics over other comparable tablets. Also, we see a front-facing camera of some sort with the AT&T branding close-by as well.

Even though we’re able to gather some new information from the two leaked images, the rest of the hardware is relatively unknown still – albeit, earlier reports mention it packing a 1.5GHz CPU, Honeycomb, and an LTE radio. Likewise, the same thing can be said about its official release date, but we’re hoping to see this one landing in the near future.

As early as April of this year, we heard that Dell was in the game to produce two 10-inch tablets with one running Google’s Android Honeycomb platform. Later on in May, some leaked images purported to be the actual 10-inch Honeycomb flavored tablet appeared showing the possibilities of it becoming an LTE enabled device for AT&T.

Well, yet another rumor is stirring things up as we speak seeing that we might be on the verge of finally seeing the device coming to market. According to a “reliable source” of VR-Zone, they believe that the Dell Streak 10 Pro will be making its debut some time this week in China – though, we’re still left in the dark regarding its pricing and official photos.

Actually, it appears that China is going to be Dell’s testing ground to gauge whether or not it’ll be a viable reason to launch it in other markets, which of course is measured on its success. Naturally, selling plenty of units would undoubtedly signal a larger scale release in other countries, but as of right now, we’ll all have to wait and find out.

A leaked screenshot of an internal Sprint document was obtained by SprintFeed, and shows which devices the carrier has branded as “EOL” (end of life, although end of the line is more appropriate) and when the handsets will be phased out. Some of the phones being removed from Sprint’s lineup are household names such as the HTC EVO 4G, the nation’s first 4G enabled device. Also being phased out is the carrier’s second 4G handset, the Samsung Epic 4G. Both devices have been replaced with newer models like the HTC EVO 3D and the Samsung built Nexus S 4G, offering the latest high-end specs to Sprint customers with the former adding 3D functionality.

The white version of the HTC EVO 4G will be removed from Sprint’s lineup in September with the black model leaving the month after along with the Samsung Epic 4G. Other models that will no longer be available include the rough and rugged Motorola i1, a PTT Android handset with walkie talkie functions. That model leaves Sprint later this month or early next month, about the same time that the gray model of the BlackBerry Style 9670 says goodbye.

This week, the Samsung Seek in pink will be EOL as will be the Sanyo Innuendo in blue, starting next week. In September, the BlackBerry Bold 9650 with a rear camera will be gone, followed a month later by the Samsung Transform.

If you have an interest in picking up any of the models going EOL, your best bet is to check with your local Sprint store soon because the inventory of many of these units won’t be replenished once they are sold out.

When the so-called HTC Ruby made its first appearance online, there was pretty much nothing that we could tell about it besides that it had a 3.5-millimeter headphone socket and a camera of some sort on its back. However, the mystery behind the smartphone is slowly starting to unfold as even more images of the HTC Ruby have been spotted on Flickr.

Luckily, the newly uploaded photos are a bit more revealing than the old ones. One of the most important hints that we now have is that the HTC Ruby carries a T-Mobile logo on its front side, which is easily distinguishable with a naked eye even though most of it has been left out of the frame. Besides that, the camera interface that is visible on the device’s display suggests that the Ruby is most likely powered by Android and not by Windows Phone, as it was previously believed by some.

Nevertheless, bear in mind that the identity of the HTC Ruby cannot be 100% confirmed just yet and we cannot say for sure whether it will ever join T-Mobile’s lineup of smartphones. You see, just because the photos of the smartphone have been taken and tagged by a device known as “HTC Ruby”, does not guarantee that it is another Ruby that is posing for the camera. However, we do remember seeing a pair of handsets in the smartphone’s previous leak. Furthermore, the device that was used to take the new photos is visible in the reflection off of an HTC Flyer’s screen and looks pretty much identical to the smartphone from last time.

Will the mysterious HTC Ruby ever reveal itself once again? Be sure that we will keep an eye on it and will let you know as soon as we find out more about it.

“The launch of the 2.3 software for X10 is getting closer, and the planned release date is approx. w30. The date could still be changed, since the launch is depending on operators approval. The software will be rolled out continuously, just like the earlier 2.1 release. The exact launch date is depending on market and operators approval, so it will unfortunately not be possible to give precise information on launch dates for each market/operator. You will get more information once the roll out has started.”

Week 30 of the year is actually this week, so some places might see the update rolling to their Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 handsets that are not bound by some carrier’s shackles. Some of the camera UI functions were initially being dumped with the update, but Sony Ericsson’s developers have put extra efforts to remedy this, and also embed the UI mostly as we see it on the Xperia arc, for example:

“The UI with the desktop layout and pinch-to-overview gesture will be similar and Gingerbread features like Wi-Fi & USB tethering, App storage on SD-card etc are included. Also the customizable horizontal app tray and the media experience widgets from the 2011 XperiaTM Products are in, including an integrated equalizer in the music player. Of course also apps that require Android versions 2.2 or 2.3 will now be possible to download from Android Market, e.g. Adobe flash.

One difference compared to the 2011 products is that DLNA will not be included. Extra type approvals were needed for that and we were unable to prioritize that without jeopardizing the time schedule. There are both server and client alternatives downloadable from Android market though.”

The Facebook Inside Xperia integration will also grace the screens of those generic Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 trade kits that get the update first, and the company has even recorded a video preview of what the update will look like on the phone, which you can see below.

Now we have some pictures in flesh and blood, and the SGH-I927 coding reveals that the device shown is indeed the almighty Samsung Galaxy S II. So, instead of Sprint, this year AT&T could have signed up for a keyboarded versions of Samsung’s best and brightest Android handset.

The AT&T version is seemingly having Samsung’s own Exynos dual-core chipset inside, as the pretty strong Quadrant score of 3056 reveals in the pictures below. Still, slapping a physical slide-out QWERTY on something deemed one of the thinnest smartphone out there, with its monster 4.3″ Super AMOLED Plus display kind of defeats the purpose, but on the other hand it will probably fill a big gap in AT&T’s Android portfolio.

How do you feel about that alleged keyboarded version of the Samsung Galaxy S II heading to AT&T?

The Asus Eee Pad Slider has become more of a mystery with every passing day as the 10.1-inch slate first appeared at CES and was expected to land in May, but its launch was delayed all the way until August in the UK. The Slider however has now passed one more obstacle on its way to mass market, this time clearing the FCC, where it appeared with model number SL101.

Earlier in the month, Asus seemed hesitant about releasing the tablet as it was “running a couple of surveys to understand what is important for our customers.” With heaps of Honeycomb tablets storming the market, that’s no surprise, but the Asus Eee Pad Slider definitely has more than the common tablet as it stands out with its slide-out keyboard turning into a great alternative to a netbook for once.

Spec-wise the slate is nearly identical to the dual-core Asus Eee Pad Transformer, but we’re yet to see whether and when the company will ship the tablet to the US. Pricing details were not yet announced either, but more details will surely emerge as the device nears its release date, so stay tuned.